The Secretariat of the European Communist Initiative (EIC) Wednesday has released a statement on NATO summit held on 11, 12 July in Brussels.

The second day of NATO summit came to an end as leaders gave press conferences on Thursday. The defense budget was a contentious topic at the NATO summit, which began on Wednesday and ahead of it, as US President Donald Trump urged EU allies to increase military spending up to 4 percent of GDP, while the current required level amounts to 2 percent.

"NATO countries recently pledged to dispense 20% of their defense expenditures on major equipment spending, providing a substantial source of income for its monopolies. With the recent announcement of Colombia as NATO's «global partner», it implies not only a strengthening of a US spearhead on the South American continent, but also ample new economic opportunities for monopolies in the South and Central American markets," the Initiative said in a written statement.

"Currently, serious competitions within the imperialist alliance are noted, which are seen in practice through the dawning of a trade war primarily between the United States and other members of the organization," the statement said.

The NATO summit came as transatlantic ties are already under strain due to US trade tariffs.

"In this context, the intensifying of the militarization of the EU with its Common Security and Defense Policy and the “International Strategy” of the EU that foresee dangerous plans such as the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), the European Intervention Initiative and the so-called Military Mobility,in the framework of cooperating with NATO but will separately assist EU imperialists in enforcing their interests abroad independently, with the African continent and the Middle East as particular targets of the military involvement of the EU and its member states," the Initiative underlined.

"In view of these developments, it is clear that the imperialist alliances are becoming increasingly volatile, that they cannot be permanent, and that the capitalist system at their base is becoming more reactionary and dangerous. The much-repeated bourgeois myth of the EU as a peace project has, in reality, turned out to be the exact opposite," it said.

"Let's strengthen the struggle against imperialist war, the EU, the NATO and all imperialist alliances!End the system of exploitation that breeds wars, crises, refugees, exploitation!Long live socialism!"